Investigation of the extent to which recognition of a foreign accent is affected by reducing suprasegmental or segmental information involved the reading of five Dutch sentences by native (N=9) and non-native (N=9) speakers. Results indicated that suprasegmental aspects of speech do play a part in a foreign accent. (CB)

Discusses how teachers can plan time for talking with their students. The techniques proposed are circle time, where the students sit in a circle around the teacher and talk about reading, and individual interviews, where teachers converse one-on-one for 5 to 10 minutes with students. (SKC)

A core reference list presents 199 citations of journal articles, books, papers, and other publications dealing with various aspects of augmentative and alternative communication, covering various disabled and nondisabled populations, child to adult age ranges, and topics such as assessment, longitudinal development/acquisition,…

Differences between the academic (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) and government (Foreign Service Institute) versions of the oral proficiency interview test are examined, and data from two studies of interrater reliability are presented and discussed. (MSE)

Compares the effects of intonation training and phonological training on the intelligibility of the speech of two severely unintelligible preschool children. The results indicated that an increase in intelligibility is facilitated through training in the production of intonation patterns. (Author/BB)

Pressure buildup patterns preceding the onset of phonation were studied in 573 fluent utterances of 10 stutterers and in 552 utterances of 7 controls. Stutterers evidenced deviant patterns of subglottal pressure buildup and abrupt voice onsets more often than did controls; occurrence of jitter and shimmer did not differ significantly. (Author/JDD)

There is more to the process of paraphrasing than simple transliteration. A variety of paraphrase types exist, each using a different strategy and requiring a different interpretive approach. (MSE)

Changing the presentation of a lesson can clarify instruction for the mainstreamed learning-disabled student and reinforce instruction for other nondisabled students. Examples are given of modifications for language arts activities, including adaptations for oral language, reading, writing, and language process and grammar. (CB)

A test of paralinguistic features of English that can be observed by listening is recommended for testing listening comprehension, especially at the advanced level, in students of English as a second language. (MSE)

Examines the nature of listening assessment and recent developments of appropriate tests. Shows listenability to be a function of orality in language and offers a summary of discourse characteristics for selecting materials appropriate to listening instruction. (FL)

Current ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages) Oral Language Proficiency Guidelines are based on an overly narrow view of communicative language proficiency. However, the guidelines do provide a basis for the development of effective teaching and testing methods. (CB)

Subjects studied one of three maps varying in feature configuration and spatial distribution before reading or listening to a related story. There were no differences in recall due to mode of text presentation, but the type of map profoundly influenced recall from both the test and the map. (Author/GDC)

Describes six oral language games that can help English as a second language students practice language patterns in a spontaneous yet meaningful context. (HOD)

Using Hindi and Urdu as examples, illustrates the shortcomings in the definition of South Asian languages that has been attempted in Britain so far. Argues that description and definition of a language have to include aspects of culture, religion, script, politics, and the speakers' own perception of their language and language choice. (SED)

This study indicated that Anglo-Australian and Greek-Australian adolescents evaluate speakers of standard (Australian) and Greek-accented speech differently. Evaluations varied according to context and to sex of listener: Anglo-Australian females favored Australian over Greek accents only slightly, while males showed much greater differences in…